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POLITICO 44

A delicate diplomatic maneuver by President Barack Obama to smooth frayed relations with Israel without alienating America’s Arab allies may have been blown out of the water Monday morning by Israel’s botched attempt to enforce the Gaza blockade — and by the lack of condemnation from Washington that followed it.

For while much about the incident remains unclear, a day of carefully parsed statements from the White House and State Department left at least one irrefutable aftershock: With much of the world expressing fury over the raid, the contrast with Washington’s muted response could not have been more striking.

“The situation is that they’re so isolated right now that it’s not only that we’re the only ones who will stick up for them,” said an American official. “We’re the only ones who believe them — and what they’re saying is true.”

The official was referring to Israeli protestations — backed by Israel Defense Forces video — that their solders were attacked by passengers on a ship headed for Gaza with humanitarian aid, when they boarded the ship in what the Israelis concede were international waters.

Organizers of the flotilla, meanwhile, insisted that participants were unarmed and that Israeli forces used excessive force.

The timing of the incident had to be viewed with rueful irony among the administration’s Middle East hands. Obama spent this spring damping down concern among American friends of Israel that his seeming feud with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had brought the administration to the verge of fundamentally altering the historic U.S. alliance with the Jewish state. Obama met personally with Jewish members of Congress and dispatched top officials to Jewish groups to stress the point, as the “anti-Bibi” rhetoric was simultaneously dialed back precipitously.

The charm offensive appears to have worked. But an administration that itself has expressed its own fury toward Netanyahu and his government in the past now finds itself close to sharing Israel’s isolation at the moment — a dynamic that could complicate Obama’s outreach to the rest of the region.

Israel’s traditional critics denounced the raid — the chief Palestinian peace negotiator, Saeb Erakat, called it a “war crime” — but so did some of the countries Jerusalem counts as friendly. Turkey’s prime minister described the incident as an act of “inhuman state terror,” Ankara withdrew its ambassador to Israel and the Conservative British foreign secretary took the occasion to call the Gaza blockade “unacceptable and counterproductive.”

The White House, in sharp contrast, avoided any hint of criticism of the Israeli action in its public statements, and American officials appeared sympathetic to Israeli explanations that their soldiers were attacked by flotilla participants.

The U.S. “deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained" in the Israeli raid, deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton said in the first of three carefully modulated statements Monday, The administration, he said, is "working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy."

The White House rendition of a call between Obama and Netanyahu also strained to avoid condemnation, and went out of the way to note that many of those wounded in the incident “are being treated in Israeli hospitals.”

Six hours later, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley issued a third statement, adding that the U.S. expects that the Israeli government — the unstated emphasis was not the United Nations — “will conduct a free and credible investigation.”

Readers' Comments (1494)

An armed raid in international waters is nothing short of piracy - state sponsored piracy no less. Well done on further alienating us from the rest of the world, and for providing the crazies in the Arab world with a big fat excuse to attack us.

It's hard to sympathize with the flotilla activists. They were warned not to make the trip, so their decision to proceed was purely to provoke the Israelis. It their mission had been purely humanitarian aid, then they could have delivered it via the Israelis or through an international aid organization such as the Red Cross/Red Crescent. Israelis would have insisted on inspecting it, in any case, to exclude smuggled weapons or contraband.

It is no surprise that the U.S. government would issue a tepid response to the shocking brutal actions of Israel, because the U.S. government is completely controlled by the Israeli lobby. The attack in international waters is an act of piracy, and the execution of unarmed aid workers is cold-blooded murder. Now the world can see what the Palestinians experience all the time. How long must we pay our tax dollars to support this rogue outlaw regime? How long must our government be controlled by a foreign power?

Ben - A highly irrisponsible article. The facts are clear. Watch the video - Israel acted in self defense. They told them not to go. They asked them to turn around. 5 of the 6 ships stopped and were searched peacefully - this one ship was not. They made their choice and 10 people died. The world should be condenming Turkey and Cypress for sending the ships - if they had sent the materials via land through Israel or through Egypt (amazing how many people don't realize that Egypt is also enforcing the blockade) this would not have occurred. Just as in this country we don't want illegals - they do not want terrorists going to Gaza.

It is time to be responsible and this article does not meet the minimum criteria of honesty. There are no questions about the raid - just people who don't know the facts because they choose to ignore them. Israel immediately released their navy radioing the ships to tell them to turn around. They also relatively quickly released the video of the raid showing the soldiers being beaten with knives and lead pipes. What type of peace activists respond that way? Is that what Martin Luther King would do?

Any loss of life is to be mourned but responsibility here is with Turkey for sponsoring this and Cypress for allowing the ships to leave from there - 600-700 people takes a while to board and should have been stopped.

It is no surprise that the U.S. government would issue a tepid response to the shocking brutal actions of Israel, because the U.S. government is completely controlled by the Israeli lobby.

If this was the case - wouldn't Jonathan Pollard have been released by now? Instead he is rotting in American Prison. Jews have no power in this country. Israel is a democracy - one where people of all religions get a long. Learn your history before throwing out statements that are blatantly untrue. Facts are that until Arafat - Israel was building roads and hospitals in Gaza. When Arafat started the Intifada that ended. Peace was occuring all throughout the 70's and 80's but Arafat wanted more and called for conflict. That ended the contruction and started the checkpoints. Many Gazan's used to work in Israel but now are unable to due to the violence that Arafat left as his legacy!

The problem here is that the Israeli side of this story is not the only one. The activists claim that the israelis started shooting on them before the soldiers started boarding the boat. Why doesn't the US administration take that into account? There is evidence to support this version of events and it would also offer an explanation for why a group of civilians decided to arm themselves with sticks and clubs and fight back against one of the most powerful militaries in the world.

The context in which this happened also matters. The blockade of Gaza is an international travesty and clearly in violation of numerous international laws and treaties. Yet, somehow, in all of this, the US finds a way to blame everyone else except israel.

The reason the rest of the world does not believe Israel is because Israel has no credibility. The story it is telling makes little sense. If has a long history of using excessive force which results in numerous civilian deaths. And it conducted its raid in international waters, making this a clear case of piracy.

The US just doesn't seem to understand that when it pulls this kind of nonsense, it makes itself culpable for all of the things that Israel does. US support is what has made possible illegal Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories. The US bears responsibility for Israeli actions and providing political cover for Israel simply emphas this link.

In the end, the US can be Israel's best friend by putting pressure on it to stop its excessive and counterproductive actions.

Many Gazan's used to work in Israel but now are unable to due to the violence that Arafat left as his legacy!

Arafat won the Nobel Prize for Jew Killing. Arafat's uncle, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, helped Hitler plan the Holocaust during WWII. The Grand Mufti even recruited 20,000 Balkan muslims into Hitler's SS (The Handschaar Division) just to kill Serbs.

They already have their excuse---we are the infidels blocking the path to their global caliphate.

Maybe you should read up on history and the things our country has done to the Arabs for generations. Start by looking into how the CIA tries to over throw a democratic government in Iran, which back fired and resulted in the current clerical regime taking power. Or our sponsorship of Sadam Hussein and his brutal regime; knowing fully well he was killing his own people with chemical weapons. Or arming and training the Taliban in gorrilla warfare tactics.

Most of the problems in the middle east can be directly traced to actions by the US, or before that, the British Empire.

We have tried for decades to play puppet master in that region - very badly. Now we just sit dumbly and let Israel stir up trouble. Trouble which will no doubt make its way to us.

Why is public opinion with the Terrorists. The facts are there for all to see. This whole thing is a sham created by the Terrorists . There is a clear and simple way for the Gaza strip to receive aid. Stop waging war on Israel. Do people really think that Canada or the United States would react any differently to their enemies trying to take over their country. Support Israel, they are defending their country, Israel has suffered enough in the last century.

Imagine a ' F L O T I L L A ' knowingly going through a Boston or New York blockade without being inspected

Except it didnt go through any Israeli territory - it was in international waters. Imagine instead the Germans sending a commando unit aboard a US freighter bound for the UK whilst it was in the middle of the Ocean. What would the US reaction be to that? Or the world reaction for that matter.

This is Isreal's 9/11. A bunch of muslim terrorists went looking for a chance to force a military response to their provocations so they could paint themselves as "victims". The leftist lamestream press and anti-semites worldwide are pushing it to the hilt. Anyone that stops and thinks for a second will realize that the main purpose here is to get rid of the only democracy in the middle east. Now that America has fallen to socialism, Isreal is one of the few democracies left.

Why is public opinion with the Terrorists. The facts are there for all to see. This whole thing is a sham created by the Terrorists .

Fact #1: The aid permitted into Gaza by the Israeli's is not sufficient to cover the needs - as observed by every aid agency in the region. Israel limit aid to punish women, children and innocent people in the region for the actions of Hamas. Source: BBC Website "Israel says it allows about 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza every week, but the United Nations says that is less than a quarter of what is needed"

Fact #2: This was an attack on a ship in international waters in defiance of international law - so who was acting like a terrorist?

Iran now has enough nuclear material to make 2 war heads because of Obamas negligence. Israel now has no choice but to stand up for itself even though the left media is making it out to be a troubled child.

Hows that Idea of giving into Russia on the Czech missle site with nothing in return working out for ya Obama?

A delicate diplomatic maneuver by President Barack Obama to smooth frayed relations with Israel without alienating America’s Arab allies may have been blown out of the water Monday morning by Israel’s botched attempt to enforce the Gaza blockade – and by the lack of condemnation from Washington that followed it.

Iran, Syria. Paleistine, Hammas without these allies PHBO would be nothing in the world today!

We need to ask why Israel is blockading Gaza first. The reason is that Iran and others are shipping weapons to Hamas in Gaza which has sworn to destroy Israel. These weapons are particularly devastating, including unguided rockets which soar across the border to kill and maim civilians, school children and innocents rather than military targets. Hamas is a brutal organization that routinely commits war crimes for which they are rarely held accountable except by Israel. Israel has every right to blockade Gaza and inspect incoming vessels for illegal arms. If Israel is not in the right on this, then what was the legitimacy of America's blockade of Cuba under JFK? Was it not to search for offensive weapons. Stand firm, Israel, and most of America will stand with you even if this lame President of ours does not.